


Golden Swan

by TheMockingCrows



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M, Selkies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:41:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22025755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMockingCrows/pseuds/TheMockingCrows
Summary: Two swans that grace the lake Hal frequents are not what they appear, but only one will take his heart.
Relationships: Auto-Responder | Lil Hal/Davesprite
Comments: 1
Kudos: 32
Collections: Stridercest Secret Santa





	Golden Swan

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Stridercest Secret Santa '19.

Hal had spotted the swans on the lake a few times, a strange shimmery gold and a silver who interlocked necks like lovers before swinging apart again in wide arcs to lazily paddle the lake. They snubbed people who tried to feed them and were aggressive as all hell when approached by strangers, but it was still a pleasure to watch them from afar. He often spent time on weekends just watching them when the weather was nice, working on his laptop propped against a tree or dozing against a log on his phone. It was a surprise when, one day, only one of them was there. The silver swan looked distraught, morosely paddling around in circles in the center of the lake, otherwise staring at a point off to the side near where Hal usually sat.

Today, he was surprised not only by the single swan, but by company in his typically empty work space. A young man sat beneath the tree staring at the swan, pale blonde hair and bright orange eyes barely blinking. He looked miserable, like someone close to him had died. Hal looked between the swan and the man a few times before clearing his throat and taking a guess.

“Did one of them die or something?” he asked. “I never see the two apart, but there’s only one now.”

“No, it didn’t die,” muttered the youth sadly. “It just.. It’s gone. It’ll be back eventually though.”

Hal didn’t feel comfortable taking a seat for some reason. He felt like he was intruding, which was frustrating considering this was his damn spot, but whatever. Maybe he’d work in a coffee shop instead for a day, fill his veins with mocha and espresso till he was half as awake as Dirk was with his insomnia. 

“You know a lot about them?” he asked, wasting time, not wanting to leave just yet. Even when sad, this guy was pretty cute to look at. 

“I guess,” he shrugged. “I just… watch them a lot.”

“I’ve never seen you around here before,” Hal said. “Do you go to the college too? Or just come around these parts?”

“I go to the college,” he murmured morosely. 

“My name’s Hal,” he offered. “What’s yours?”

“Davian,” the young man said, looking over with a faint smile before looking back to the swan with a sigh. 

“Hey, don’t look so sad. I’m sure it’ll be just like you said, that it’ll come back eventually. Or it’ll get another mate or something,” Hal said, though apparently it was the wrong thing to say. Davian stiffened before sighing and slumping his shoulders.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “I guess.”

The general mood was like a funeral, and Hal didn’t waste much time before exchanging a few more pleasantries and seeking a quick exit, deciding to go around the lake to see if there might be another comfortable looking spot to rest and relax. The swans were kind of a lost cause today, maybe there was another quiet place he could just chill and work in, somewhere out of the way. Hal busied himself along the walking path before picking a deer trail to follow, surprised when he came out into a small clearing with a comfortable looking log that didn’t have debris by it. When he came closer and reached out to dust off a spot to sit, he paused, squinting into the end of the log.

Something shimmered, catching the light like a patch of liquid gold. It was soft to the touch when he lifted it up to get a better look, and held together firmly. It looked like a cloak of some kind, golden feathers interwoven in just such a way that they didn’t fall apart as he lifted, attached to some kind of soft leathery material like a hide. Hal looked left and right, wondering if someone was going to appear out of nowhere to steal it from him, before he hurriedly bundled it up in his arms and folded it as carefully as he could, deciding to take the treasure home for a closer look.

Was it stealing? Probably. But then again who the fuck left something this precious just chilling in a fucking log?

“That thing’s probably cursed to hell and back,” was all Hal’s twin Dirk had to say when he spread it out on his bed in display. 

“Oh please, like curses even exist.”

“Well, neither do weird feather things like this, and fucking yet,” he said, gesturing with his hands.

Hal rolled his eyes and guarded his treasure like a contented dragon for the remainder of the weekend. The following Monday was when things started to get strange. The orange eyed boy, Davian, started to turn up everywhere Hal went. Always with the same sad look, though it turned hopeful every time their eyes met. Another man also turned up with him however, red eyed and angry, a twin by the looks of him. Small world. He had half a mind to ask what the fuck was up, but that was easier said than done when every time Davian came closer the red eyed man would swoop in and tug him away.

Davian finally approached sans brother a few weeks later. He looked rough, thinner, dark circles beneath his eyes as if he hadn’t been sleeping enough, but desperate to talk. ...Or so Hal thought. He didn’t want to just talk. He wanted to hang out. 

No harm no foul, so long as the angry brother kept his distance, he supposed. 

They got coffee. They walked the lake a few times. They went to the movies. They’d meet between classes to talk, warming up to each other more and more bit by bit. Weeks passed this way, spending time together. Growing closer. Every time Hal turned too suddenly he’d see angry red eyes, but with Davian resting against his arm as a warming presence it was easier to bare.

Hal had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who seemed too good to be true, beautiful to behold up close, funny, sweet, affectionate. He seemed willing to do anything and everything in his power to make Hal happy, which was a first in his life. A welcome first.

But something didn’t feel quite right. 

Whenever Davian came over, Hal would always catch him trying to poke around the room as if searching for something, hunting for something. The day he finally showed him the golden feathers, it felt right finally. Someone that attractive looked good surrounded by gold, even if the garment was strange, and it made him smile brighter than anything Hal had ever seen in his life. The strange feeling came back when Davian left that day, and persisted when he came back and gravitated towards the feathery item each time without a single word.

Hal didn’t question it, but it did lurk at the back of his head like an unanswered question.

One day, however, it finally came to a head. Davian held the feathers and broke out crying, shoulders shaking and head bowed. Hal stood tensely, hands lifted, knowing he should give comfort but not entirely being sure how to do it in the moment. Stiffly he stretched his arms out and reached for Davian’s shoulders, touching him before sinking closer in a hug against his back.

“Please, Hal.. Please,” he said, voice soft and begging as it broke. “Please, free me. Please.”

Startled, Hal sat back and lifted his hands as if stung to give him room, but Davian just shook his head and cried harder.

“No! Not that! Free me!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Davian, you’re pretty free from where I can see? There’s nothing holding you down.”

“No,” Davian said miserably, grasping the feathers hard enough Hal was worried he’d break the delicate looking thing. “No… Free me. Please, I need this back, I need freedom.”

Hal blinked and slowly tipped his head to the side, not following. What the fuck was he talking about and why wasn’t he making any sense? Fucking free him from what? Frowning, Hal reached out and touched Davian’s shoulders again, giving him a slight shake.

“Look, I know I’m smart, but I’m not understanding what you’re saying. Can you be clearer for me? For just a second? Free you from what?”

Davian looked up at him with clear bright eyes for a moment, tears streaking his face, before he threw the feathers over his shoulders and pulled them up over his head. For a split second the lumpy figure of his boyfriend sat huddled on his bed like a weirdo. The next, the missing golden swan stood there in his place on Hal’s bed, making him instinctively jump back a few paces to avoid a swan shaped projectile flinging itself at his face. 

“How- Wh-. ….Huh?”

The swan placidly looked at him before the change happened in reverse, it stretching its graceful wings out before tucking its head beneath its wing. An instant later, the lump of his boyfriend was back and beneath the feathery mound.

“This is mine,” he said when his head emerged finally, quietly, sadly. “This is mine..”

“I. Go back a second, what do you mean free you. And secondly, what the ACTUAL fuck just happened.”

Davian snuffled and rubbed his face.

“This skin is mine. I.. My brother and I live at the lake most of the time. But we had an argument.. And then my skin went missing.”

Hal felt his stomach drop. ..Oh. Okay, maybe that’s why someone would hide something in a log.

“And the whole swan thing..?”

“Selkie,” he mumbled, snuffling again. “My skin.. My  _ skin _ ,” crooned Davian sadly, hugging the feathers to his sides. “I can’t disobey whoever has my skin. I can’t just take it back. It has to be given.”

Hal’s stomach did another funny twist. His boyfriend was so pleasant and perfect because he had to be. Because he was the holder of the skin. He was probably only his boyfriend because of the skin. If he gave it back, he’d probably disappear and go back to his brother at the lake, never coming back again. But if he kept it, he’d just be keeping Davian miserable.

Was it worth it?

Was keeping him around and miserable worth it, just to not have to say goodbye?

“Will you leave, once you get it?” he asked, mouth dry. “If I give you this skin, are we..?”

“No!” Davian insisted. “No, you’re a good person! You’re not dangling it over my head, I just. Please. Please, give it back. I can’t stand not having it anymore. I won’t disappear or anything, I promise, I like being near you. I just really need to have it back.”

Feeling as though he’d regret it eventually, Hal reached for some tissues and handed them to Davian.

“It’s yours,” he said. “You keep the feathers. Take your skin back.”

The tears were happy now, Davian squeezing the pelt to his body as if he could absorb it if he held on tight enough. He didn’t wipe his face before he pounced Hal down to the floor, kissing him intently about the cheeks and lips, wet happy kisses of delight.

So it came to pass that Hal adjusted to the strangeness of having a shared boyfriend. The red eyed angry brother, Dave, was no longer viciously protective. He had his twin back. He had his life back. The pair of swans once more graced the lake together, aweing those who gazed upon them, and Hal once more graced his usual relaxation spot, all the more comfortable in knowing that when the swans were done that one of them would be coming home with him beneath his arm, safe and happy and warm.


End file.
